


To Make a House a Home

by flightinflame



Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Charles Xavier in a Wheelchair, Hopeful Ending, Hurt Charles, M/M, Mansion Fic, Protective Erik, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-05
Updated: 2019-12-05
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:35:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21676876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flightinflame/pseuds/flightinflame
Summary: October, 1963."Uh...Professor?""What is it, Hank?""Uhm. Erik is at the front door. And he has two toddlers with him. One of them has white hair."
Relationships: Erik Lehnsherr & Pietro Maximoff & Wanda Maximoff, Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier
Comments: 10
Kudos: 144
Collections: Secret Mutant Madness 2019





	To Make a House a Home

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by [librata](https://archiveofourown.org/users/librata/pseuds/librata) in the [secret_mutant_madness_2019](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/secret_mutant_madness_2019) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
> 
> October, 1963.
> 
> "Uh...Professor?"  
> "What is it, Hank?"  
> "Uhm. Erik is at the front door. And he has two toddlers with him. One of them has white hair."

The past year had been hard for Charles. He had survived, and that was more than most people could ask of him. He'd completed his therapy, even when it had required him to spend weeks at a time in hospital, surrounded by people who were ill, whose thoughts were loud and panicked and gave him a headache even as his body struggled with every task that was asked of it.

Hank's loyalty and friendship had kept him alive. More than Hank knew. Without the other man's presence, the endless tests and treatments would have overwhelmed him. But Hank came to visit, and so did Sean, and Alex, and Darwin when he returned. And now he was home.

The school was still to some degree under construction. It wasn't what it should be yet, and they had only a handful of pupils, those that had been found using Cerebro, and which Charles had been sure needed to be brought there. It was something.

It wasn't what he had hoped for, but it was what he had, and Charles was determined not to make the perfect the enemy of the good. He hadn't saved all of them, and he was struggling to try and hide their existence, but he was managing. 

He mourned, of course. For the less of Erik, and of his sister, and all the dreams he had had of what they could achieve together. For all that he tried, the place felt hollow, missing the heart of it with Erik and Raven gone. The rest did what they could, and he learned to hide the pain that was in his heart behind a smile and to focus on the future, because the future was all they had.

Because his children deserved nothing less.

***

He was in his office, trying to prepare for his next class, when he felt Hank reach out and brush against his mind, with an urgency he rarely saw from the other man.   
_Professor?_

Charles put his notes aside, frowning a little, his hand resting against his forehead as he tried to focus through the swirl of emotions pouring from Hank. There was anger, and fear, and sadness, and confusion, and none of that explained what was happening, but it was loud enough to drown out the truth  
 _What is it, Hank?_

There was a pause, and that alone was enough to worry Charles, have him moving towards the door. But Hank's answer, when it came, left him breathless.  
 _Um. Erik is at the door, and...he has two toddlers with him. One of hem has white hair._ Hank finally provided the image of what he could see. Erik, 'Magneto', was indeed in their doorway, the hated helmet in place, a little girl with a red ribbon in her hair holding onto his arm as a boy rushed around at his feet. Charles caught glimpses of that bright hair, and nodded, making his mind up. 

In the past year he had hoped every day that he would never see Erik again, and he had hoped every day that he would wake up to find him beside him once more. It was clear now, which he had received. He gripped the push rim of his chair tightly, taking a deep breath before heading towards the doorway. 

_Bring them inside. To the smaller kitchen please, and get them some drinks. I'll be joining you shortly._ Instructions given, he focused on making his way down to the smaller kitchen, the one that was generally used as a break room by the few mutants who had taken on teaching responsibilities.

Erik was here.

Erik had brought children.

Over the past twelve months, more than once children had been left at the school, clearly presented by Erik. Children rescued from government labs, and Charles couldn't shake the idea of a cat trying to please someone by leaving around dead mice. The image made him smile despite himself. 

But Erik had never been found at the school. Charles only recognised Erik's handiwork due to the children themselves explaining about the man that had rescued them.

Erik being here with the children, that was unheard of.

He pushed open the door, and was immediately climbed on by the white haired boy, who looked up at him and smiled.  
"Hello!" The boy said quickly. "Are you Papa's friend? He said he had a friend here?"

"I..." Charles swallowed slightly, glancing between Erik and the boy.

"Hello," Erik said softly, before reaching up to lift off his helmet and place it to one side. "It's good to see you, Charles."

Charles could see the exact moment that Erik registered the chair, his smile faltering slightly.

"You..." Erik began, and Charles nodded. 

"It turns out that having your spine broken a long way from medical attention leads to lasting problems." He shrugged. "Permanent, they tell me. But then..." _I appear not to be the only one with permanent consequences. Would you introduce me to them?_

Erik nodded slowly, still cuddling the girl, and sighing when he noticed the boy had climbed onto Charles.  
"That little monkey is Pietro, and the girl is Wanda."

Charles nodded sincerely, greeting both of them before he turned his attention back to Erik.  
"They're darling. Why are they here?"

"I didn't know where else to bring them. They aren't safe at the brotherhood, and" _They couldn't stay with their mother, not with his hair._

"I don't run a babysitting service, Erik. This is a school."

"You have other children here, little ones. I know you do, I've seen them." Erik argued, and Charles wondered how long Erik had watched the comings and goings at his home, trying to work out if he could approach.

"Is that your plan then?" Charles asked, impressed by how steady his voice was. "Leave me with my own consequences of your actions, and your own consequences as well? Is this a reparation? A gift? Or do you truly think..." _Do you truly think giving me my ex-lover's children, children that must have existed when we were in bed together - do you think that's a kindness? If so you are a sicker man than I thought you were, Erik._

"No." Erik said, his fingers twitching towards the helmet following Charles's onslaught, but he held himself back, just, from using it. "I... I don't know if ... I don't think humans and mutants can coexist. Maybe one day you'll change my mind, but I doubt it. The thing is, right now I need somewhere safe, somewhere my children won't have to fear... and the only possible place... the only place I've been safe, Charles, is here. If you want me to leave, I will. I won't fight it, I don't want to hurt you any more. But I need my children to have a home, and this... this is the only home I can remember."

Charles looked at him, and looked at Hank who was watching them intently, a frown on his face. He took a deep breath.  
"Alright. I'm not...happy about it. But I don't want your children at risk." _You said you were willing to leave. Are you willing to stay?_

Erik looked him in the eyes, and nodded slowly, and Charles swallowed, glancing down at the little boy on his lap, who was busy fiddling with Charles's cufflink. 

Charles took a slow breath, and then nodded. He wasn't naive enough to think that Erik would stay for long, but this was a start to reopen a life he thought had slipped away from him. He wasn't too proud to grasp it, while the option was there.  
"Yes, Pietro, I'm your Papa's friend."

The boy nodded, and giggled, and over his head Erik's eyes met Charles's own.  
 _Thank you._


End file.
